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| Navigational Art and Directions By Colleen Yorke, © 2017. |
"Most people never run far
enough on their first wind to find out they've got a second." - William James
In the Navajo language, the word second,
as in time, translates to "the one that moves fast". Most runners are
joggers. They run the same steady, moderate pace. Even some highly competitive
runners jog most of the time. Easy running improves stamina and fitness. Faster
running is more taxing, but if it is done in small doses, it helps to break out
of the jogging rut - especially when faster running is layered on top of a high
volume of easy running.
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| Some DTLA Runners, 2014. |
There are different types of fast
running: The first level is referred to as tempo pace. This pace is a slight
gear up from jogging pace, we push a little, but remain comfortable. After
that, we hit the threshold pace, it is the fastest pace we can go at which we
maintain fully in control of our breathing anywhere from thirty to sixty
minutes. Faster still gets us to VO2 max pace. This corresponds to the fastest
speed interval we can sustain for six to ten minutes straight to exhaustion.
The next gear has no conventional name other than speed. It incorporates a
range of speeds faster than the VO2 Max pace and slower than a full sprint
between 30 to 80 seconds in duration. Finally, the fastest speed we can sustain
for no more than 20 seconds is a full sprint. In the DTLA Running Group we have
a fun tradition "to sprint like a wind" that last block of our
nightly run routes. In the end, we are definitely spent, but we also feel fabulous.
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| Monthly Half-Marathon, 2014 |
How fast should we run? There are
no magic numbers for our threshold workouts and VO2 max intervals. Pacing
calculators such as the one by GregMcMillian can be helpful, but in the end it is all about practice
and experience. Alternating our runs, and building in a variation of running
requirements (hills, soft paths, narrow alleys) can shake up our monotonous
pacing. And, every second of faster running makes a difference.
Last night I jogged and paced for
13.8 miles, part of my monthly tradition of starting and closing with a
half-marathon of running every month. Some of you have asked me to map out the route on Runkeeper. The route is varied in hills, both uphill and downhill, soft
sand, narrow sidewalks, bridges and three parks. It is great for anyone looking
to train for a race, to improve stamina or to just explore the City of Los
Angeles in all its peculiarity. I am always looking for new routes to run. If
you have a favorite run, please do share!
your threshold workouts, your VO2 max intervals, and so forth.
Read more at http://running.competitor.com/2014/01/training/running-101-how-fast-should-you-run_19877#TLgGXJtGjXwpccLv
Read more at http://running.competitor.com/2014/01/training/running-101-how-fast-should-you-run_19877#TLgGXJtGjXwpccLv
